Embossed shoulder straps



Oct. 20, 1964 H. SILVERMAN EMBOSSED SHOULDER STRAPS Filed July 18. 1961 INVENTOR. Aheazp .5/4 l/ERMA/v BY 2 AT T 01mm.

United States Patent 3,153,245 EMBOSSED SHOULDER STRAPS Harold Silverman, Yonkers, N.Y., assignor to Maid-Rite Novelty Corp, Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 18, 1961, Ser. No. 124,914 1 Claim. (Cl. 2338) This invention relates generally to shoulder straps for 'brassieres, slips or other articles of feminine wearing apparel.

An object of the invention is to provide shoulder straps of the describe dcharacter with embossed decorative or ornamental designs to enhance the appearance thereof, and which may be correlated with the patterns of lace or other decorative fabrics included in the associated garments or wearing apparel.

Another object is to provide shoulder straps of the described character with permanent decorative embossing which is capable of withstanding the repeated launderings to which the straps and associated garments or wearing apparel are usually subjected.

A further object is to provide shoulder straps of the described character with decorative embossing which appears only on the outer or exposed surface of the strap while the inner surface of the latter, which is in contact with the wearers body, remains smooth for optimum comfort to the wearer.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a laminated strap is produced by folding a textile fabric tape of cotton or other suitable fiber around a liner of thermoplastic material, such as, polyethylene or the like, so as to completely envelop the latter, and then embossing one surface of the laminated strap while the liner thereof is in a molten or plastic condition so that the embossed pattern is impressed through the outer fabric layer into the plastic material which, up on the setting thereof, forms an intimate bond with the outer fabric layer for securely retaining the tape in its folded condition with the embossed pattern permanently impressed therein.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the thermoplastic material is in the form of a continuous, relatively thin web around which the fabric tape is folded to form the laminated strap, and the latter is then fed through a heating unit to soften the thermoplastic material immediately prior to the feeding of the assembly between two pressure rollers, one of which has the desired design in intaglio on the surface thereof, so that the pressure rollers emboss a surface of the strap While exerting the pressure necessary for producing the desired permanent bond between the fabric tape and the thermoplastic liner.

The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof which is to be read'in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an apparatus by which embossed shoulder straps may be produced in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a fragment of a shoulder strap embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the shoulder strap of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 1, and showing the details of a heating unit included in the apparatus by which an embossed shoulder strap may be produced in accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embossing roller also included in the apparatus of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIGS.

2 and 3 thereof, it will be noted that a shoulder strap material embodying the present invention, and there generally identified by the reference numeral 10, is of the laminated type and includes a relatively thin liner or core 11 of thermoplastic material, such as, for example, polyethylene or the like, which preferably has a thickness of between approximately .003 and .005 inch, and a woven textile fabric tape 12 of cotton or other suitable fiber longitudinally folded around the thermoplastic liner 11 so as to completely envelop the latter with the edges of folded tape 12 abutting to form a seam 13 along the longitudinal medial line of the exposed or upper surface of the strap material 10. The folded woven textile fabric tape 12 forms an inner or bottom layer 12a (FIG. 3) and an upper or outer layer 12b integrally joined together along the opposite longitudinal edges of strap material 10 and being bonded ,together by the liner 11. This bonding. action can be achieved by pressing together the layers 12a and 1211 while the thermoplastic material of liner 11 is in a plastic or molten condition so that the plastic of liner 11 impregnates the fibers of the fabric layers 12a and 12b and, upon setting thereof, forms a secure bond therewith.

In producing the laminated strap material 10, the thermoplastic material intended to form the liner 11 may be applied, in molten condition, to the central portion of the woven textile fabric tape 12 which forms lower layer 12a and, thereafter, the longitudinal. edge portions of the tape 12 may be folded upwardly and inwardly to form the upper layer 12b overlying the lower layer 12a. Finally, the folded tape enveloping the plastic liner may be passed between pressure rollers which cause the molten or plastic material of liner 11 to impregnate the textile fibers and, upon setting, form a secure bond therewith.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawing, the thermoplastic liner 11 may be in the form of a continuous web or film having a Width approximately equal to one-half the width of the woven textile fabric tape 12 and being drawn from a supply roll 111 thereof simultaneously with the drawing of the tape 12 from a supply roll 112 of the latter. The thermoplastic Web 11 is. fed above the wider fabric tape 12 into a conventional folding device 14 which continuously operates to fold the longitudinal edge portions of tape 12 upwardly and inwardly over thermoplastic web 11. After tape 12 has been folded around thermoplastic Web 11, the assembly passes continuously through a suitable heating unit 15 which is effective to heat the web 11 to a temperature of between 350 and 400 F., so that the same is rendered molten or at least plastic.

As shown particularly in FIG. 4, the heating unit 15 may include an upper plate 16 and a lower plate 17 formed with a shallow, longitudinally extending groove 18 opening upwardly against the upper plate 16 so as to define a passageway through which the tape 12 folded over the liner 11 is guided during the heating thereof. Metal blocks 19 and 20 are secured to the plates 16 and 17, respectively, in a manner to provide good heat transfer therebetween, and such metal blocks have bores containing convention electric heating elements 21 supplied with electric current through a suitable thermostatically regulated circuit (not shown).

After the liner 11 of the strap material 10 has been rendered molten or at least plastic by the heating thereof, the strap material passes between pressure rollers 22 and 23 which compress together the textile fabric layers 12a and 12b so as to cause impregnation of the plastic material of liner 11 into the fibers of the textile fabric material, whereupon the strap material 10 is fed along a sinuous path around idler rollers 24 so that it is suitably cooled before passing between feed rollers 25 which are suitably driven by an electric motor 26.

In accordance with the present invention, an embossed design is provided on the upper or exposed surface of the laminated strap material by providing one of the pressure rollers, specifically, the upper pressure roller 22, with an engraved surface 27 having the desired design in intaglio therein so that, as the strap material 10 passes between pressure rollers 22 and 23, the engraved surface 27 of roller 22 produces a corresponding embossed design in the upper layer 12b of the folded tape 12.

It has been found that, since the thermoplastic liner 11 underlies the upper layer 12b of textile fabric, the embossing of the latter is transmitted to the thermoplastic material, that is, the raised portions of the design in the upper fabric layer 12b are filled or supported by correspondingly raised portions of the thermoplastic liner 11, as is clearly apparent in FIG. 3. Thus, when the thermoplastic liner 11 has set, the pattern or design embossed in the upper fabric layer 1212 is permanently retained by the plastic of liner 11 even after repeated launderings of shoulder straps formed from the embossed strap material 10.

Further, the lower pressure roller 23 preferably has a smooth surface so that, as shown in FIG. 3, the lower or inner fabric layer 12a of the strap material will have a smooth surface for comfortable contact with the wearers body. It has been found that, in the absence of the thermoplastic liner 11, embossing of the shoulder strap material is not permanently retained and further results in the transmission of the embossed pattern to the lower or inner surface of the strap material, and in weakening of the textile fabric. Thus, in the strap material '10 embodying the present invention, the thermoplastic liner 11 performs the multiple functions of retaining the embossed design or pattern in the upper or outer surface of the strap material, of permitting the restriction of the em-. bossed design or pattern merely to the outer layer or surface of the strap material so that a smooth lower or inner surface can be maintained, and further of retaining the strap material in a relatively flat condition, that is, preventing curling of the shoulder strap during use.

It will be apparent from the above that the present invention makes it possible to provide shoulder straps cut from the strap material 10 which have permanently embossed decorative designs or patterns that may be cor-related with the patterns of lace or other decorative fabrics included in garments or wearing apparel to which the shoulder straps are affixed. Although the drawing illustrates a shoulder strap material 10 having a basket-weave design or pattern embossed in the upper or outer surface thereof, it will be obvious that the surface 27 of the roller 22 may be suitably engraved to form other desired embossed designs or patterns.

Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein Without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, exceptas defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A decoratively patterned, laminated shoulder strap for brassieres and the like, comprising a thin thermoplastic liner having a thickness in the range between approximately .003 and .005 inch, and a woven textile fabric tape having its longitudinal edge portions folded over said liner to form a butt seam along the longitudinal medial line of the strap, said folded edge portions of the tape having embossing therein which extends across said seam totdefine the decorative pattern of the strap, and said plastic liner having a corresponding overall embossed pattern in the surface thereof underlying said folded edge portions of the tape and which is impressed into the liner through said folded edge portions so that the liner retains the decorative pattern in the embossed textile fabric of the tape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,238,611 Willis Aug. 28, 1917 1,288,601 Jacobs Dec. 24, 1918 1,708,059 Griffiths Apr. 9, 1929 2,331,054 Shively Oct. 5, 1943 2,445,889 Rossi et al July 27, 1948 2,602,932. Eaton July 1-5, 1952 2,657,161 Luitwieler Oct. 27, 1953 2,686,745 De Matteo Aug. 17, 1954 2,739,096 Bayon Mar. 20, 1956 3,013,919 Bialy Dec. 19, 1961 3,090,048 Loew May 21, 1963 

